


The Bloody Game

by soprano193



Category: Lie to Me (TV)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 20:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1239736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano193/pseuds/soprano193
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cal and his family are addicted to a game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bloody Game

Gillian marveled at the 7 year old asleep on the couch. She had been playing out in the snow all day, and finally had fallen asleep on the couch wrapped in a blanket while she and her mom watched Tangled.

Her daughter. Gillian never thought she would be able to call someone that. Emily was great and all, but she had missed so much, and it wasn't exactly the same. By the time Jaime had come along, Emily had already picked out the college she wanted to attend. She wanted to go off to California to study journalism. Cal and Gillian joked that she could have a career as a matchmaker. She had been the one to meddle, nag and push Gillian and Cal together (finally). It was funny and somewhat annoying, but her meddling resulted in a glorious marriage and the adoption of this perfect little girl.

Cal and Gillian decided to be foster parents first. That is how Jaime found them. She was bounced around different families, never finding a good match. When she came to them she was 15 months old. She was fine during the day, but she barely spoke, and she screamed all night. She was hard to soothe because she had never truly bonded with anyone before. But when Cal was ready to give up, and call the social worker, saying it just wasn't a good fit, Gillian pleaded with him. She never got over them taking Sophie, she didn't want anyone to take Jaime away either. So it was Gillian that powered through, and Gillian to work through the rough patches. That's not to say Cal wasn't great with Jaime. He loved to play with her, draw with her, tickle her. He really loved her. It was just the screaming every night he couldn't deal with. He hated seeing her so worked up and being unable to do anything, he didn't have the patience for it. But after a long period of struggle, finally, there was a breakthrough.

It was two months after they had taken her in. Gillian was doing laundry, and had left the toddler in the living room drawing pictures. It was her favorite pastime, and one of the few things that actually kept her calm. When Gillian came back into the room, she knelt down to look at the picture she had drawn. "Oh, Jaime, it's lovely!" She kissed the top of the little girl's head and patted down her red curls. She started to walk toward the kitchen to start on lunch, when a little voice called out, "no, mum!" Jaime's hand reached out over the playpen, reaching for Gillian. Jaime had never done that. No one had ever done that. No one had ever called Gillian mom.

With tears in her eyes, she lifted the little girl and walked toward the kitchen. One thing was for certain, she was not giving up anytime soon. Jaime wasn't leaving for at least another 17 years. She grabbed her phone to text her husband.

SUM1 JUST CALLED ME MUM 4 THE 1ST TIME!

The next step was a no brainer. Gillian and Cal were in touch with the social worker. They wanted Jaime to stay. The process of adoption wasn't necessarily easy, but it was a good day when Gillian could look into those blue-green eyes and tell Jaime she was home to stay, even if she didn't necessarily understand!

Gillian admired the little girl on the couch. Her red hair fell in soft curls around the middle of her back, and she had freckles all over her face. She would grow up to be a heartbreaker that was for sure. She pulled out her phone and sent a picture to Cal.

BE QUIET COMING IN, PUNKN IS SLEEPING. I WILL NEED HELP MOVING HER TO HER BED

The response was quick. NO PRBLM. BE HOME IN 10.

She smiled. Jaime wasn't heavy, but Gillian didn't have a lot of practice or confidence carrying a sleeping girl up stairs.

Gillian decided to make sure there was nothing in the pathway between the door and the little girl's bed. It was a good thing she decided to check. Jaime had taken off her wet snow clothes and left them everywhere. On top of it, the jeans and the green sweater she had worn were at the foot of her bed. Obviously they had to have the hamper talk again.

Gillian moved the wet clothes to the bathroom and put her dirty clothes in the hamper. It had been Gillian's idea to change into jammies ahead of time. She knew the girl was tuckered out and was pretty sure she would have to be moved from the couch. This way they didn't have to wrestle jammies on a sleeping child.

Gillian went over to the bed. She moved the covers down over the footboard to prepare for the sleeping child. Under the covers was the iPad. Jaime's school required that every student have one, like many now do. At first they had been nervous. It's a several hundred dollar piece of technology for such a young kid. But Gillian and Cal did a ton of research about what exactly they needed, why it was beneficial, and what the best possible case was. They also had it insured. Gillian picked it up and plugged it in, part of the nightly ritual. She would need it for school tomorrow anyway.

Gillian heard the footsteps on the stairs, so she did a final check to make sure that everything was all set. When her husband walked in with a sleeping Jaime in his arms, her heart began to swell. It really was the sweetest thing!

He placed her down on the bed gently. He tucked a stray curl behind her ear and kissed her forehead. She stirred, but his low croon telling her, "Goodnight sweetheart. I love you" put her at ease immediately. Gillian pulled the covers up, tucked them in around her, and kissed the top of her head. She left the door slightly ajar so the light from the hallway would filter in.

Cal met her in the hallway with a passionate kiss that made her heart flutter. The snow day that had canceled school meant someone had to stay home with Jaime, and it was just Gillian's turn. Of course that meant that he had extra work to do, so he was late getting home and he hadn't seen his wife or daughter since breakfast. He hated working late. "I'm exhausted" Gillian murmured.

"Me too." Cal wasn't lying. It had been a very long day. He and his wife walked to their bedroom, his arm draped lovingly around her shoulder. She crawled right into her side of the bed. She was already in her pajamas. She and Jaime had decided to have a jammie party that night, and unfortunately Cal was unable to make it. While Cal changed, Gillian grabbed her book from the nightstand and continued to read. She was so engrossed that she hadn't even noticed her husband climb into bed with her. He was on his phone. That wasn't unusual. He was known to send last minute instructions to Loker when he got home, especially when the day was long, or if he was worried that he forgot something. But Gillian noticed he was becoming more and more agitated. That was unusual.

"Cal." He ignored her. "Cal!" She spoke louder, and he looked up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just playing a bloody game."

Gillian scooted closer to look at the screen. No game should agitate him that much! There were green pipes, and you had to direct the bird through the pipes. And Cal wasn't doing so well.

"Where did you find this game?"

"It's called Flappy Bird. Jaime has it on her iPad. She plays it sometimes to keep herself busy at the office sometimes." He held his phone in his left hand and tapped the screen with his right pointer finger to get the bird to fly. He smashed into a pole again. "Shit!"

"Why is this getting you so worked up?" Gillian asked, somewhat concerned but highly amused.

"I opened it on her iPad this morning, just to see her high score. It's 37 Gill. 37. My seven year old has a score of 37, and I can't get past 9."

Gillian laughed. "Can I try?" She held out her hand innocently and he handed the phone over to her. She held it in her right hand and detected the bird by just tapping her thumb. Cal watched her get 7 on the first try. So he let her play while he grabbed the book he had stashed on his nightstand. He started to realize that Gillian was unnaturally calm and quiet for a game like Flappy Bird.

"How's it going, Gill?"

"Dammit! Cal! You broke my concentration!"

He laughed, "I told you it wasn't easy! What did you get to?

"Well I was up to 111 until you spoke." Cal was shocked. There was no way! But there were no signs of deception on her face.

"Show me" he demanded. So she played again and this time he watched, until she finally hit a pipe after making it through 156. He was incredulous! "You know, Emily sent me a bloody screenshot of her game, and I thought her 72 was quite impressive. How is everyone good at this game except me?"

Gillian laughed "Well, now you have a high score on your phone. You could always lie and say it was you and not me! I don't even have the game!"

He took his phone out of her hands. "Gillian Lightman, we search for the truth! Besides, Eli and Ria would be all over me!"

She laughed and kissed him. "You know, you're very cute when you're agitated!"

He grinned. "So I've been told." He turned off his light, and Gillian settled in, her head on his chest like a pillow. He wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep, with visions of bouncing birds banging into poles in his head.


End file.
